If this is your year to be healthier and happier, take comfort in knowing you can drastically improve your happiness and well being by just making lots of small changes that will add up over time.

Use these seven ideas as a place to start, and incorporate one or two a week. By the end of February, you’ll have a new series of habits that will put you well on your way to being your happiest, healthiest self!

Get up Earlier – Start with just 15 minutes earlier. Set your alarm, and get up when it goes off. The extra 15 minutes will be enough so that you aren’t rushed, you can set up your day and get organized (both mentally and physically), or you can get a head start on your long list of to-dos for the day. Starting out with a good, fresh perspective involving seeing the early morning hours, will do wonders for your state of mind and productivity.

Go outside – whether you go outside for some exercise to spend some time in nature, or just to sit on your porch and drink coffee/tea in the morning, the fresh air and sunshine will give your body a refreshing boost of energy (and even a dose of Vitamin D)!

Just move – Forget about resolutions and gym memberships and promises of how often you will work out – just move!! Get up and move every hour (at least), start the day with stretching and movement, and as you are more easily able to commit to this, transition into regular exercise routines, choosing an exercise method you can maintain and do consistently. The best therapy is to take a walk once a day and look at your environment.

Indulge in your guilty pleasure – Don’t use foods as a reward or only on days when you burn a lot of calories, just sit down and have some healthy food choices you make with no guilt.

Apply your mantra or attitude – You are probably familiar with the power of words, but have you heard of the power of words and repetition, as they relate to you? Do some research and find a mantra you could use to motivate yourself and start blending it into your life every day thoughts and good energy just for you.

Let it go – whether it’s a grudge you’re holding against someone else, something you regret, or a grudge you are holding against yourself, find the space to accept, forgive and move on. Make this the year you let it go, accept it as the past and then move happily forward. Breath in a new good thought and breath out toxic thoughts. Smile forcefully and soon you won't have to do this as a pretense.

Eat good food & Drink Vitamin Tea – Even if you start with eliminating one food you shouldn’t be eating and replacing it with one new good for your food, this can go a long way in improving your energy, state of mind and self-confidence. As you accomplish one, continue to make changes one at a time until you are consuming a cleaner, healthier diet overall.